


the proof that love's not only blind, but deaf

by wherelovershavewings



Series: Merel's Adventures in Demigodland [3]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Self-Insert
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-30
Updated: 2016-08-01
Packaged: 2018-07-28 07:32:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7630864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wherelovershavewings/pseuds/wherelovershavewings
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My dear friend, Amber, wrote me a lovely self-insert fic, so now I'm retalliating by writing something for her. ENJOY BAE</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. do i wanna know, if this feeling flows both ways?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [amber the beautiful human bean](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=amber+the+beautiful+human+bean).



> Title from 'Fake Tales of San Fransisco' by the Arctic Monkeys because i am a predictable emo bean

It  had all started with the claiming. They were sitting at their respective tables, save for Nico, having breakfast in companiable silence, when a blonde girl came walking over in the direction of the Hermes table. Nico had been at Camp Jupiter when she’d arrived, together with a friend, and when Nico’d gotten back she’d just been, well, _there._ She had a towel slung over her shoulders and her golden hair was still slightly damp. Before she could sit down, a golden lyre started to glow above her head. As one, everyone abruptly turned their heads towards her.

 

“Uhm,” she startled, “do I have something on my face?”

 

He heard a cackle from the Demeter cabin, “I called it!”

 

Will whooped, “Hey sister, there’s a free spot over here!” as he scooter closer to Nico to make room on the bench. She finally looked above her, and let out a little surprised ‘oh’. She smiled, blushing, and went to sit at the Apollo table.

 

“Amber, right?” Will started, shaking her hand as she nodded, “I’m Will, I’ll show you to your new bunk after breakfast.”

 

 “Sounds good!” she replied, looked over at Nico, and froze.

 

 _Great,_ Nico thought, _another kid afraid of Hades._ But then she smiled a little, and his stomach gave a swoop. _What the hell? There must be something wrong with the food he’d been eating._

“Hey, I think I know you,” her eyes sparkled, “You’re Nick, right?”

 

Will slowly turned to him, shit-eating grin stretching his face. Nico scowled at Amber’s startled expression, got up, and walked away. He could hear Will howling with laughter.

 

* * *

 

 

It wasn’t until a few days later that he saw her again. When he stepped outside his cabin, Will was already standing there to collect him, making sure he’d attend breakfast, wearing a suspicious smile. He looked to the right, where he saw Amber peering at what looked like a crudely painted sign attached to the side of his cabin.

 

She looked over, “Oh hey, Nico!”

 

Well, _at least_ she got his name right. He walked over, scowling at the sign. It read, ‘ **Frown Town. Population: 1’**. His glare intensified.

 

“You know,” Amber said thoughtfully, “if you’re the only inhabitant of Frown Town, does that make you the mayor?”

 

He gave her an unimpressed look before draggin Will away by the arm. He was going to _kill_ the Stoll brothers.

 

* * *

 

 

“Hey,” Jason panted, swinging his sword in a wide arc to create some distance between them, “the new Apollo kid-“

 

“What about her?” Nico growled, moving forward.

 

“She’s a pretty good archer,” Jason parried his blow.

 

 “She’s insufferable-“ _Thrust._ “-and annoying,” and sent Jason topling backwards, who just laughed as he lay flat on his ass.

 

“Sounds like your type,” he said with a knowing grin.

 

Nico threw his arms up in exasparation and walked away. He seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

 

* * *

 

 

Nico felt like closing his eyes. He was warm all over and the throbbing pain in his side seemed to lessen when he did so. It felt really quite nice, he thought, just closing his eyes, just a few seconds-

 

“Oh no, you don’t,” he felt a hand tapping at his cheek until he opened his eyes the edges of his vision blurry. Since when was he lying on his back? Someone was looking down at him, concern marring their beautiful face, and Nico reached out to smooth that frown out with his fingers, but his coördination seemed off because he just ended up smearing his hand all over the person’s face. _Wow, their skin was so soft._

”You’re so bright,” he heard himself whisper.

 

 “Oh gods, he’s delusional,” the person murmured in reply, eyes widening. _Like sapphires_ , his brain replied.

 

“Merel, get over here!” He heard heavy footsteps coming their way, a string of guttural noises that sounded like curses, and then he was flying.

 

“You’re really heavy for someone so skinny,” he heard someone say.

 

“Woooo,” he just let out weakly, because he was _flying_ , Jason would be so proud.

 

Then he felt the darkness consume him.

 

* * *

 

 

Nico wrinkled his nose. The air smelled sharply of strong herbs. He looked at his side, where a jagged wound was covered in a green paste.

 

“Hey, Death Breath.” He looked up. Amber was smiling down at him. Only then he realised that he was in the infirmary. He stared pointedly at the green mess painting his abdomen.

 

“Courtesy of Merel, she said it’s to prevent major scarring and quickens the healing process. That hydra got you good though.” She sat down at his bedside. “Will’s currently setting Travis Stoll’s arm-“ she was cut off by a high-pitched yell, “-but by the sound of it, he’ll be here soon. How do you feel?”

 

He looked at her, with her hair pulled back, a few stray locks of hair escaping the ponytail, framing her face. His heart clenched. That couldn’t be good.

 

 “I, uh,” he croaked eloquently, “I’m fine.”

 

 “I’ll get you some water,” one last smile, and she was gone.

 

* * *

 

 

Will lay with his back on Nico’s bed, legs dangling off the edge as he lazily let them swing about, softly kicking the air. Nico was pacing in front of him.

 

“It’s just-,” he cut himself off, groaning in frustration.

 

“Use your words, Nico,” Will replied from the bed.

 

 “She’s just so-“ and here he made a complicated hand-gesture, trying to convey exactly _what_ Amber was by balling his fists angrily and making a neck-wringing movement.

 

Will laughed softly. “You do realise that she more or less saved your life, right?”

 

“I _know,_ okay?” Nico exploded. “And that’s the _worst_ part, because I can’t even properly hate her because without her I’d be dead meat!” He tugged at his hair in frustration. “But every time I see her she just gives me this _look_ , and I just- I don’t get it!”

 

“Nico,” Will started gently, “what did she say to you today? During lunch?”

 

“She said-!,” and her he stopped himself abruptly, continuing in a softer voice,” She… she said my hair looked nice.”

 

“Exactly!” Will said triumphantly, sitting up,“So she can’t be all that bad, right?”

 

“But she just said it to get under my skin!” Nico retorted with conviction. Will huffed, letting himself fall back on the bed.

 

“It’s true! She petted my hair, Willl, who _does_ that?”

 

Will frowned at him, “I pet your hair constantly. So does Jason.”

 

“Well, _yeah_ ,” Nico replied haughtily, as if Will was missing something obvious, “But you’re _allowed_ to do that!”

 

Will gave him a look. “And she can’t, because..?”

 

“Because she’s a _pain,_ Will”

 

“Ah, yes,” Will smacked his forehead, “how could  I forget.”

 

Nico growled. “She’s just pretending to like me so she can embarass me or something.”

 

 “Yeah,” Will snorted, “or _something_.”

 

Nico ran another hand through his hair. He pretended he didn’t still feel Amber’s phantom touch on his scalp. His eyes narrowed in annoyance. “She wants me to help her with sword practise,” he murmured. “Because _supposedly_ she’s _sooo bad with a scabbard and can you please help me, Nico?”_ he fluttered his eyelashes dramatically, trying to imitate how dumb Amber had looked at him. Yes, _dumb_. Not _cute_. Honestly, why was his brain still replaying how she’d looked at him, all hopeful and flushed? Maybe Will would be willing to lobotomize him, he was clearly going insane.

 

Will had clearly had enough of his grouching because he’d hopped off the bed and was now standing in front of him. Grasping his shoulders, he looked intently into Nico’s eyes.

 

“Nico, my man, I need you to use that wonderful frontal lobe of yours and think _really_ hard about what annoys you so much about Amber.”

 

Nico frowned at him, not sure what his friend was getting at, and heaved a sigh.

 

“Well, for one thing,” he started hesitantly, “she’s always _smiling,_ even though there’s nothing to smile at. And-“ here he started frowning again, “she’s really passionate about archery, which is kind of lame!” at this point, he wasn’t even trying to convince Will, he was trying to convince himself. “And-and, she’s always hanging around that weirdo from the Demeter cabin who is literally _always_ covered in mud, like, that must say something about her sanity, right?”

 

Will smiled gently, “Go on.”

 

“And,” he faltered a little, “she forced me to eat a brownie, because I hadn’t eaten yet that day, which is, like, none of her business?” Nico looked desperately at Will.

 

“Was it a nice brownie?”

 

“It _was_ ,” Nico squeezed his eyes shut as if in pain. “She said she’d made it herself,” he pouted at his faded Converse. “And the other day she was singing at the campfire with Merel, and her voice is-is,” he sighed, slumping forward into Will. “She has a really nice voice,” he mumbled sadly into Will’s shoulder.

 

“I know, Nico,” Will replied, as he hugged his friend. They stood like that for a long time, the chaos in Nico’s brain slowly subsiding and making place for the sadness.

 

* * *

 

 

So, Nico isn’t great with dealing with his feelings. The way he’d dealt with his crush on Percy Jackson was a pretty prime example of that. But he was done running, there was no way he was going to hide at Camp Jupiter again, it was time to face the music.

 

“You’re going down, di Angelo!” Amber yelled with glee, as she gave a weak thrust, her entire left side open. She was actually pretty bad at this. Somehow it made Nico feel warm regardless.

 

“Big words for such a small girl, _bellezza,”_ he replied, easily parrying her blow and smoothly giving a thrust of his own.

 

Okay, so, not _exactly_ facing the music. But they were talking? Fighting? It was a form of communication at least, that was something. He was also _very_ relieved that Amber didn’t speak a word of Italian, since it had proven to be a pretty good vent for his feelings.

 

“ _What_ did you just call me?” she said indignantly, managing to deflect his blow and moving to his side, where she’d apparently seen an opening. She stepped forward, but Nico feinted to one side before quickly moving the opposite direction, which caused her to overbalance slightly. All Nico had to do was give a knock to her shoulder with the butt of his sword, and down she went. Rolling over, she tried to move up, but Nico was already pointing his sword at her chest, lazily, smirking down at her.

 

“I called you a numb-skull, and insulted your poor fighting skills,” he grinned.

 

“That’s a lot for such a short word,” she smiled, entertained. Nico tossed his sword to the side to help her up. He tried to ignore the little shock when their hands touched, and how warm hers were, before he was toppling forward with a yelp. Amber had roughly yanked at his arm, and now they were face to face, his arms braced on either side of her head. She smiled triumphantly, face flushed from exertion and beaming like she’d won the lottery. “I win!” Nico stared for a beat too long before he was scrabbling off of her. He forced a laugh, “I should’ve guessed you played dirty,” he forced out. He needed to calm his damned heart. Weakly, he coughed into his hand, “I’m, uh, going to take a little break. See you in five.” Amber gave him a thumbs up, gulping down water from a bottle. This was going to be a long day.

 

* * *

 

 

“So,” Leo started, before a grape was popped into his mouth. He smiled at Merel, chewed the fruit, and tried again. “So, he likes her.”

 

“Yes,” she replied.

 

“And she likes him?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“But they both refuse to say anything about it to the other?”

 

“You got it.”

 

“And,” Leo frowned, “now he’s started to compliment her in Italian, but she thinks he’s insulting her?”

 

“Amazing, right?”

 

“Should we say something?”

 

“Probably, but,” and here she smirked, “I kind of like seeing them desperate.”

 

“You’re kind of evil, you know that?”

 

“’Look like the flower, be the serpent under’t’, and all that,” she smiled.

 

Leo hummed. “Kind of crazy how oblivious they are, though. I’ve never met anyone that dense.”

 

Merel looked at him, before blushing and looking away. “Yeah,” she forced out, “ _really_ oblivious.”

 

* * *

 

 

“What the _fuck_ is your problem?” Nico glared at the Demeter girl, trying to look menacing, but probably failing, since she was nearly a head taller than he was.

 

She tapped her chin in thought. “Well, greenfly is currently consuming my zucchini plants and I already _tried_ the garlic water trick but they just won’t go away, so now-“

 

“Cut the crap, Merel! I saw you kissing Valdez during Capture The Flag!”

 

She gave a little smile, as if replaying the memory, which then turned into a frown. “Which is bad, because..?”

 

“Y-You can’t just do that to your-your _partner_!”

 

“…Since when am I a cowboy? Or should I say cow _girl,_ since-“

 

He’d had enough of her shit. Not only had she done something terrible, she was outright _denying_ it to his face.’

“You’re cheating on Amber!”

 

She froze. For a second he felt triumphant. _Yeah, I’m onto you._

“Okay, wait,” she held her hands up, squeezing her eyes shut and turning her left ear towards him, as if she hadn’t heard properly, and was hoping for a repetition.

 

“I know she’s annoying at times, but you can’t just-“ he waved his hands at her, “-she deserves better than the shit you pulled.”

 

Merel looked at him with wide eyes, before a smile spread on her face. “Oh my gods,” she whispered.

 

“ _What?”_

“You _idiot,_ ” she cackled, doubling over and resting a hand on her gut as if it actually pained her to laugh this hard. Nico was about to start yelling at her again, but she sobered up in time and held her hand in the air in a placating manner. “Buddy, I get the assumption, _really_ , I do, but Amber is my homeslice.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“My bae! My BFF! My partner in crime! My compadre! My sister-from-another-parent! So no need to get jealous-“

 

“I’m _not_ jealous!”

 

“-because no one is currently sticking their tongue down Amber’s throat.”

 

“Uhm.” That remark had made Nico kind of uncomfortable. And he was definitely _not_ thinking about kissing Amber. At all. Then he thought of something.

 

“Wait,” he said, “don’t you like girls?”

 

“I do,” she replied proudly, hand to her chest. “ _And_ I like boys.”

 

Nico smiled a little. “So you’re bi?”

 

She see-sawed her hand. “Do you know what pansexuality is?”

 

Nico nodded, then hesitated for a bit. “And, uhm, Amber?”

 

“ _Tragically_ heterosexual.”

 

“And,” he pressed, “you’re sure she’s not seeing anyone right now?”

 

“Single. As a Pringle, ready to mingle.”

 

He smiled. Like, a _real_ smile. It kind of hurt his jaw, but it was nice.

“Thank you, Merel.” Then, “sorry I yelled at you.”

 

“No problemo, man,” she held up her fist so he could bump knuckles with her. “Us love-sick fools have to stick together.”

 

He looked at her, slightly annoyed. “I never said anything about being in love.”

 

She smiled magnanimously. “Good talk, Nico.” She gave him a little smile, and walked away.

 

He decided that, maybe, Merel was kind of okay. _Maybe._


	2. when she laughs, the heavens hum

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jingle Bells, my writing smells  
> Nico is a mess  
> Amber (nearly) dies, Merel cries  
> Leo can only guess, hey!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a few disclaimers:
> 
> 1\. i don't know a thing, my guy (especially about medical stuff, this was all bull-shitted, i'm so sorry)  
> 2\. this was SO much fun to write ahahhahahahahah   
> 3\. i love nico so m-much *wipes eye*   
> 4\. it's really hard to write kissing scenes when you've never actually, you know, kissed. so uhm IDK it's probably gross but hey i tried  
> 5\. i'm a comical GENIUS listen, listen, i laughed at my own writing. okay not LAUGHED but i did give a hearty chuckle at some parts, so uhm yeah please love me i'm a proud little baby  
> 6\. chapter title from arctic monkeys' reckless serenade

Flax-golden hair was spilling all around him, surrounding him like a cloak that separated him from the rest of the world. Amber was leaning over him, one hand braced above his shoulder, the other grazing the front of his shirt, softly rucking it up, before she kissed the corner of his mouth. He could feel her smile pressed against his skin. He palmed the side of her face, moving their lips together urgently, reaching up with his other hand to pull her closer by the back of her neck. He felt like he was on fire, flames licking all over him. Her hand grazed over his abdomen, he-

Nico woke with a start, sitting up in shock. Mortified, he buried his face in his hands, feeling how hot his face was. Swallowing thickly, he looked down at his lap and groaned in frustration at the evident hardness in his briefs. _Third night in a row, this was getting ridiculous._ Cursing, he lay down onto his stomach, trying his best to ignore the friction it caused against his dick, and burying his face into his pillow.

He couldn’t bring himself to meet Amber’s eyes the next day.

 

* * *

 

 

“That last note was a little flat, _mio cuore_ ,” Nico ribbed as Amber poked him in the side with a branch.

 

“Like you can do any better,” she retorted, chewing a roasted marshmallow. He wanted to lick into her mouth to taste the sticky sweetness. _Easy there, pal,_ he admonished himself, as he felt himself blushing at his own thoughts. A few logs over, Will stood up, his hair glinting in the light of the campfire, moving his arms to indicate for everyone to quiet down. He spoke up.

 

“I’m pleased to say that, in the last few months, there’s been a steady decline in monster reports.” People all around the campfire hooted and cheered, until Will indicated for people to quiet down again, “The war against Gaia was tough, and we mourn those we lost every day, but we can be proud of ourselves, and of each other, for our accomplishments in these trying times, however,” he continued, more solemn, “there are still creatures out there wreaking havoc upon society, which is why,” and here he motioned at Amber to stand up, “we’re going to send one of our best archers to scout an area where there’s been one of the latest reported sightings. There’s a large chance the reports are false, but regardless, I’d like to ask you to keep Amber in your prayers and burn an offering to Nike in her name.”

 

Dread was slowly settling into Nico’s gut, like a wet cement blanket. He felt himself shaking slightly. _No,_ he thought. _She’ll be fine. It’s fine._

 

He couldn’t sleep very well that night, at all.

 

* * *

 

 

Nico woke to the sound of loud, frantic banging on his door. Heart in his throat, he hurried towards the door of his cabin and threw it open. Merel stood at his doorstep in her pyjamas, with tears in her eyes. Nico felt his eyes widen and his heart stutter to a halt in his chest. _No. No no no._

Merel swallowed, and rasped, “she’s in the infirmary.”

 

Shaking himself out of his stupor, he quickly grabbed the girl’s arm and sprinted away.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Amber was thrashing on the bed, as two kids from the Apollo cabin held her down, while Will was frantically applying pressure to a gaping hole in her abdomen. The ragged edges of flesh had a faint green hue, and she was steadily losing blood. Another demigod was heating an iron rod, readying it for cauterization. _I can’t look at this._ He briskly walked past Merel, who was trying to fight back tears, and went to the training grounds.

 

* * *

 

 

Slashing angrily at a training dummy didn’t help alleviate his stress. All he could see was Amber, lying on that cot, giant wound in her chest as if someone had tried to reach into her and tear out her stomach, blood clotting her tangled hair and slashes covering her arms, one leg bent at an unnatural angle. He screamed, furious, forcing his sword through the dummy’s head with all the force he had, and toppled over. He squeezed his hands into the sand as hot tears fell into the dust before him.

 

* * *

 

 

That day, Nico stayed inside his cabin to pray to his father, a repetitive string of words tumbling from his lips until his throat was aching and raw, his voice hoarse. _Not her, please not her. Anyone but her. She’s too good. She’s too young. Please not her. Please, by Zeus, not her._

* * *

 

It had been three days since the incident and Amber still hadn’t woken up, and Nico felt like tearing out his hair.

 

 “She’s healing, Nico, she needs time,” Will tried to placate him.

 

Still, Nico was worried sick and had taken up residence in the infirmary. One of Will’s siblings had tried to get him to leave, but one murderous glare and the kid had let him be. He sat by Amber’s bedside for the entire day, his back aching from the uncomfortable chair, while he absentmindedly flipped through a book about ancient burial rites. He hadn’t remembered falling asleep, but he woke with a crick in his neck when he heard someone murmur his name. Bright eyes shone through the semi-darkness, staring at him.

 

“Hey, Ghost Boy,” she whispered, before coughing weakly.

 

Nico rushed to her side, and took up the glass of water that stood on the small table next to her. He put the straw into her mouth and she took a few sips, giving a weak smile and a ‘thanks’ before she was gone again. He grasped her hand and stroked the bruised knuckles.

 

 _I think I love you_ , he thought.

 

 He bit his lip and settled back into the rickety chair, clinging to her wrist until he fell asleep.

 

* * *

 

 

He woke again a few hours later to the sound of whispering. The sunlight filtering through the window shone red, a sign that it was only dawn, and he squinted his eyes to see Merel bent over Amber. She was wearing a large black summer dress, with a pattern of _mille fleurs_ cluttering the fabric, and the green in her hair had nearly faded away, giving it a washed out, pale look. From the folds of her dress she unearthed a muffin, wrapped in cling film.

 

“Some real people food,” she whispered, setting it on Amber’s bedside table.

 

“Thank you,” Amber murmured back, and gave a weak smile. A pause.

 

“You really scared me, y’know,” Merel frowned at her own confession, and continued, “you’re kind of an asshole for that.”

 

Amber looked vaguely guilty, not looking Merel in the eye but patting her arm in a comforting gesture. “I know,” she said.

 

Nico felt slightly uncomfortable watching the display, as if he was intruding on a tender moment. He feigned sleep as Merel lightly pushed Amber’s hair out of her face and gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.

 

“I can’t lose you, man,” Merel sighed. “Your mom will kill me, and she’s kind of scary,” she pulled her mouth to one side, a sign she was uncomfortable.

 

Amber chuckled lightly, “You won’t get rid of me that easily,” she said reassuringly.

 

“Good,” Merel said, “and don’t think I’m not going to hold you accountable for that near-heart attack you caused me,” she pointed a threatening finger at Amber, “I am going to annoy the _crap_ out of you  once you, y’know, can actually move without rupturing anything vital,” she finished lamely.

 

 “You’re doing a good job of that, already,” Amber retorted, eyebrow arched.

 

“How _dare_ you,” Merel sniffed, “I’m a delight.”

 

Amber snorted, “Sure you are,” but she started to sound tired again.

 

Merel seemed to catch onto it as well, because she drew up the covers a little higher and told Amber to get some sleep. For Amber’s part, she didn’t resist, and drifted off  in seconds. Once her breath had evened out, Merel let out a snort, and he felt eyes look at him.

 

“I know you’re awake, you little shit,” she told him.

 

Cautiously, he opened one eye, and dead-panned, “Clearly, I’m asleep.”

 

“Your head will fall off of your neck if you keep sleeping in that chair like that,” which, seemed fair. She continued. “I got you a snack as well,” and pulled another muffin out of the folds of her dress, Nico suspected they held pockets. Merel had a thing with pockets. She placed the pastry next to Amber’s, “It won’t do us any good if Amber gets better, only for you to starve to death, so, eat,” she admonished.’

 

 Nico’s stomach gave a traitorous rumble, so he just said, “Yes, ma’am,” and with a wave she was walking away, yawning into the back of her hand. He was pretty sure Merel’s mother-henning could rival Jason’s. He smiled at that, and started picking at the muffin.

 

 

* * *

 

 

That day, Nico attended all the camp activities, needing something to distract him from his traitorous mind and even more traitorous heart. He returned to the infirmary in the evening, though, only to find Merel and Leo already there. Amber’s splinted leg had been put in a cast, and Merel was drawing curling vine-designs on the side, while Leo and Amber were throwing crumbs of brownie at each other. When he entered the curtained-off section of room, they all fell silent and stared at him.

 

The first to recover was Merel, who quickly said, “Oh, boy! Look at the time,” glanced dramatically at her bare wrist, and tugged on Leo’s arm, while saying, “Babe, we have to go do that thing!”

 

Leo just gave her a non-plussed look, but let himself be tugged up regardless, asking Merel what ‘thing’ they had to do, to which Merel just replied, “You know, the thing! With the stuff!” before shooing Leo through the curtains, and moving through them herself.

 

 A beat of silence, before Merel’s hand appeared through the opening of the curtains again, shooting them a thumbs-up, and properly dissapeared this time. Nico felt quite confused, slowly turning around to Amber, his hand fingering at the hair at his nape. He waved lamely, before resisting the urge to smack himself in the face.

 

_Smooth._

Amber grinned awkwardly. Despite her injuries, she was a sight for sore eyes. The grime had been washed off of her, and  her hair had been washed and brushed, neatly braided to one side in a fishtail. A row of butterfly band-aids were stuck above her left brow, showing a red line that was, thankfully, starting to heal. She wore a shirt that said, “What Would Bear Gryllis Do?” with a smaller line of text underneath that, on closer inspection, read, “drink his own piss, probably” at which Nico let out a little snort. Her entire right fore-arm was bandaged, and the ring-and little finger of her dominant hand were taped together. Her eyes were bright as ever, though, and her cute nose scrunched up a little when she smiled at him.

 

“So,” Nico started, matter-of-factly, “you look like shit,” his eyes roving up and down her body, drinking in the sight like a man parched with dehydration. _Gods, but she was beautiful._

“Yeah,” she said casually, “nearly dying will do that to you.”

 

He felt anger rise in him. “Maybe if you were a little more careful, this wouldn’t have happened,” gesturing at her wounds.

 

She waved him off, “Eh, I’ll live.”

 

Nico’s eyes flashed, and in a beat he was looming over her, finger jabbing in her face, “You nearly _didn’t_.”

 

She started to look annoyed.  “Listen, Nico, I already got lectured by nearly half the camp, I don’t need you to yell at me as well,” she crossed her arms, looking away from him, “Anyway, what is it to you?” She flashed him a hurt look, and he backed off.

 

“What is it to _me?_ You’re my-my _friend_!”

 

“Oh, really?” she countered, voice rising, “could’ve fooled me, with the way you’re always glaring at me-“

 

“I’m not _glaring_ at you-“

 

“-And how you’re always insulting me!”

 

 Nico looked at her with round eyes, and she continued.

 

 “I know I annoy you, but I’m trying really hard to- to be your friend, and I _get_ that you may not want me around, but instead of just saying so, you hurl insult after insult at me, and I don’t even know how to react to them, because it’s in freakin’ Italian!” She looked at her hands, bewildered. “I just- I don’t get what I’m doing wrong, but you keep giving me these _looks_ and whenever I touch you, you get all frozen up and weird about it, and- and you always sound so sincere when you insult me, like it’s not in a joking way, you know? Like you really mean all the hurtful things you’re yelling at me.”

 

Nico took a step closer, not believing the things he was hearing. _And here you thought you were being so obvious,_ he couldn’t help but giggle a little, at which Amber threw him a scowl.

Nico smiled down at her, fingers gently lifting her chin.

 

“What are you-“

 

“ _Stupida.”_

 

“Hey-!” but before Amber could say anything more, Nico leaned down, and kissed her.

 

He kept pressing his lips softly to hers, waiting to be sucker-punched in the solar plexus. He certainly did _not_ expect Amber to give a little exhale, grasp the hem of his shirt, and drag him closer. Emboldened, he rested one hand at her clavicle, the other gently cupping her face, mindful of the bruising there. He moved his lips slowly, and the fact that she responded in tandem thrilled him to no end, her hands resting over his ribs, moving in soft circles. He lightly bit down on her bottom lip, and she gasped slightly, giving him the opportunity to slide his tongue along hers. _I could do this forever_ , he vaguely thought, before he felt one of her hands rove up his chest, along his neck and into his hair, pulling softly, and _oh,_ that was nice. He lightly rubbed his finger at her collarbone, skimming the skin stretching across it, before trailing it up her neck, feeling her swallow, and grasping her chin, giving her one sweet kiss before pulling back slightly. They stood like that, lightly gasping into each other’s mouths, getting their breath back, for gods knew how long. He looked from her mouth to her eyes, to notice they had glassed over. He pressed his lips together, still tasting her, before swallowing audibly in the silence. She closed her mouth and swallowed, before letting out a reverent _holy shit_ , looking him into the eye, and broke into a grin.

 

“That, uhm,” and _god, she sounded wrecked,_ “that explains, well, a lot, actually,” she trailed off.

 

They looked at each other for a beat before both breaking down into helpless giggles, Amber burying her face into his chest, while he gently stroked her hair, still laughing.

  _Mio sole,_ he thought, and she looked up. _Crap, he’d said that out loud,_ and he watched realisation dawn on her.

 

“You,” and here she gave a skeptical smile, “You weren’t really insulting me at all, were you?” At Nico’s carefully blank look, she blanched and thumped his chest with her good hand. “You were complimenting me the whole time?” she threw her head back in exasparation.

 

“Uh, yeah,” Nico rubbed the back of his head awkwardly, “sorry about that.”

 

“You idiot!” she exclaimed, “we could’ve been doing this the whole time instead!”

 

And, _yeah_ , Nico realised, he _was_ a pretty big idiot. He was about to apologise again when she gave him a meaningful look, and said, “Guess we have to make up for lost time?” before pulling him in again.

 

 _Okay,_ Nico thought, _he could work with that._

 

* * *

 

 

They had just finished lunch, and Nico was about to go to the infirmary to visit Amber again, when he was cornered by Will.

 

“You know what’s weird?” Will said, right out of the blue.

 

“Uhm,” Nico arched an eyebrow, “you springing random questions on unsuspecting people?”

 

Will just continued as if he hadn’t heard Nico. “It’s the craziest thing! I was checking up Amber’s vitals and I noticed that new bruising had formed.”

 

Nico gave him a confused look before Will cleared his throat diplomatically.

 

“On her _throat_ , Nico.”

 

 _Oh._ “Yeah,” he sputtered, “that’s certainly weird.”

 

“Funny,” and suddenly Will was in his personal bubble, pulling his neckline down. “You have a matching one.”

 

Mortified, Nico slapped a hand to his neck, while Will cackled.

 

“Shut up, Solace,” he grumbled.

 

Will held up his hands defensively, “I’m just saying, Amber’s still  pretty beaten up, so, you know,” he wiggled his eyebrows, “no _strenuous activities_ , for now, at least.”

 

The shove Nico gave Will was strong enough to send him falling into the grass. As Nico walked away, he heard Will yell, “And those are _doctor’s orders!_ ”

 

Nico smirked. _Alright, no ‘strenuous activities,’ he could reign himself in._ Then he thought of Amber, of her smile, how her small hands fitted into his, the crinkles around her eyes. _For now, at least._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *drags hands down face* i don't even know what this was BUT I ENJOYED WRITING IT I HOPE YOU LIKED IT AMBER

**Author's Note:**

> i can't wait to update this ahhahHAHAHAHAH


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